Chargers Place Branson Taylor and Scott Matlock on IR, Designated to Return

The Los Angeles Chargers have placed guard/tackle Branson Taylor and fullback/defensive lineman Scott Matlock on injured reserve with a designation to return, a move that will keep both players out for at least the first four games of the regular season. The team made the announcement on August 31, 2026, tying each player to the league’s injured reserve (designated to return) rules that require a minimum time away before the organization can begin the return process.

For Taylor, the Chargers listed him as a guard/tackle option, a role that typically matters early and often for offensive-line depth. Guards and tackles are both positions where NFL teams try to protect continuity, because changes along the interior or at tackle can alter pass protection assignments and run-game angles. With Taylor placed on injured reserve, the Chargers will need to lean on other linemen on the active roster and practice squad to handle the immediate workload through the season’s opening stretch.

Matlock’s designation is notable because the Chargers described him in a hybrid defensive-and-offensive capacity. He is listed as both a fullback and a defensive lineman, which generally means his value can swing with offensive packages and special teams needs, while also giving a defense a flexible body for front alignments or rotational snaps. By moving Matlock to injured reserve, Los Angeles will be forced to re-evaluate how it fills that multi-role gap over the first month of the campaign.

The injured reserve (designated to return) mechanism is designed to give teams a way to park players who are not ready to play immediately, while still preserving the option to activate them later in the season. The Chargers’ announcement emphasized that both Taylor and Matlock must miss a minimum of four games to start the season. That means the team can plan for an absence long enough to create real depth demands, while also keeping a pathway open to bring them back once they clear the league’s eligibility requirements.

As the season approaches and the Chargers build out their week-to-week rotation, these designations also shape how the roster might be managed. Teams often respond to injured reserve moves by increasing reps for backups, shifting practice-squad elevations, and tightening the gap between scout-team look and game plan execution. Even without additional details about practice availability or recovery timelines, the minimum four-game window effectively sets an early roster benchmark for Los Angeles’s depth planning.

Taylor and Matlock now join the injured reserve list for the start of the season, with the organization holding the “designated to return” label as a future option. What to watch next is whether the Chargers will issue additional updates as the minimum four-game period passes, and how the active roster stabilizes at the guard/tackle spots and in the fullback and defensive lineman roles during the first month. Any return decision would occur only after the team meets the league’s eligibility process associated with the designation.